The Treasury Department imposes sanctions on the Salt Typhoon hacking group responsible for hacking major US telecommunications companies

The US government announced sanctions on a Chinese organization with links to Salt Typhoon, the hacking group responsible for… The largest telecommunications hack in US history.

Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Announced on Friday It has imposed sanctions on a China-based cybersecurity company, known as Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, which it says is directly linked to the Chinese-backed hacking group Salt Typhoon.

Salt Typhoon was recently identified as the perpetrator of the largest telecommunications hack in US history, after hacking into at least nine US telecommunications and internet service providers, including AT&T and Verizon, to access the private communications of top officials. American government and political figures.

The hackers also breached systems used by law enforcement agencies to collect customer data with court permission, potentially accessing data-sensitive data such as the identities of Chinese targets of U.S. surveillance.

In a press release issued on Friday, OFAC said that Sichuan Guoxinhe Province was “directly involved in the exploitation of US telecommunications and Internet service providers.”

Treasury hackers were punished

OFAC also announced sanctions on Yin Kecheng, a cyber actor in Shanghai, who US officials claim is responsible. A recent large-scale hack of the US Treasury.

The breach, which occurred in late December, saw hackers use a private key stolen from BeyondTrust – a cybersecurity company that provides identity access technology to large enterprises and government departments – to remotely access certain workstations of Treasury employees.

The cyber attack allowed hackers – Another Chinese state-backed group is known as Silk Typhoon – To target various departments within the US Treasury Department, including the Sanctions Office.

According to OFAC, Yin Kecheng has been a cyber representative for more than a decade and is affiliated with China’s Ministry of State Security, an intelligence and security agency responsible for collecting foreign intelligence in the country.

“Treasury will continue to use its authorities to hold accountable malicious cyber actors who target the American people, our companies, and the United States government, including those who have targeted the United States,” US Treasury Department official Adewale Adeyemo said in a statement on Friday. Specifically, the Treasury Department.”

Earlier this month, The US government has imposed sanctions on another China-based cybersecurity company Because of its alleged links to a government-backed hacking group known as Flax Typhoon. The Treasury Department said the company, Integrity Technology Group, was involved in “several computer hacking incidents against U.S. victims,” ​​including U.S. critical infrastructure.